Quarantine life has given me time to enjoy cooking. I got a craving for tacos the other day, so I made one of my favorite vegan dishes- walnut meat tacos. Make this recipe your own by adding what you have and using what you like. For example, garlic salt may be used instead of fresh garlic.
The walnut meat can be added to salad for a taco salad. You can sprinkle it on top of taco chips for nachos. I also use this spread to make a savory breakfast burrito by placing the meat, egg, cheese, and potatoes in a tortilla.
This takes ten minutes to assemble. The most time consuming part (for me) is assembling the food processor and trying to remember what spices to include.
Recipe
1 cup of walnuts
1/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes
1 teaspoon each of cumin and chili powder
Juice of 1/2 a lime
(Optional) I like things spicy, so I add many spices. You may choose to omit / include any of the following: pinch of powdered chipotle, ancho chile, cayenne and red pepper flakes
(Optional) Raw veggies can add a fresh contrast but may be overpowering to some palates. Use as desired: small or half clove of garlic, sliver of onion or green pepper, piece of jalapeno / serrano chile
El Milagro corn tortillas
Directions:
Roll the lime to extract the juice. Cut the lime in half, peel the garlic and slice any vegetables. Of all of the suggested vegetables listed above, I only had the lime and a garlic clove. My walnut meat turned out really garlicky – so I suggest using a smaller clove or cooking the garlic first.
Put in the walnuts, spices, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and lime juice in the food processor.
Pulse to desired consistency. The rougher chop is easier to add to salads. I like mine smooth. For a smoother paste, add a tablespoon of water at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Turn on stove burner. Turn flame down to low. Place tortilla on stove grate.
Flip tortilla. The tortilla will become pliable.
Assemble taco. Use ingredients you already have on hand. I used cheese and avocado because that was all I had at the moment. Raid your fridge for more options: you could use cilantro, sour cream, greek yogurt, eggs and potatoes (breakfast burrito), tomatoes, lettuce, onions, pickled carrots, etc.
Tips:
Put your food processor together before adding the ingredients- my blade was off kilter and I had to dump everything out. The blade was slippery and very hard to place.
I try to clean my food processor after I make this recipe. I’m not sure if the sun dried tomatoes and spices stain the white plastic, and I do not want to find out.
When heating up the tortillas – turn your flame down low.
Diamond Life Adventures 